Wild Lilly (31 page)

Estrella’s dark eyes flashed with anger. “I don’t want Paul back! I—” Blushing, she clenched her jaw and tried to compose herself. “You are so stupid.”

“If anything happens to Owen, I will gut you both myself.” A horrible thought occurred to her. “Where is Paul?”

“Paul’s fine.” Estrella darted a glance at the man. “I left him a note telling him that you were all right so he didn’t do anything stupid.”

Staring at Estrella, the man demanded, “Have you lost your mind?”

Lifting her chin, Estrella fidgeted beneath his glare. “No one saw me. I was wearing the maid’s outfit you stole so I could drug their food.” She swallowed and added in a husky voice, “You don’t know what it’s like to lose your loved one. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.”

Leaning back, the man clasped his hands together and studied Estrella. “I know more than you think.”

While they talked, Lilly struggled with the knots that tied her hands together. She didn’t know what was going on, but it was obvious Estrella and the man wanted each other. The man’s eyes softened whenever he looked at Estrella, making him almost human. If she played her cards right, she might be able to use their distraction to her advantage.

“Don’t bother to try undoing those knots. It’s not going to happen in this lifetime.” He ignored her glare and continued. “We’re leaving for Caldwell in the early morning in a private car on a train heading west. Once we are in Caldwell, you will sign over the land to Lee Krisp. He’ll let the boy go and you can take the money from the sale and return to your home in Hartford.”

“No one is going to believe that I willingly sold him my land,” she hissed at him.

Estrella crossed her arms beneath her breasts. “It’s your job to make them believe. If you fail, you and Owen are dead.”

Her mind spun. She had to find a way out of this. At the moment, her best option was to agree and get untied. “All right. I’ll go with you to Caldwell.”

“Excellent,” his smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Oh, one more thing. If we don’t make it to Caldwell within two weeks, my employer is going to kill the boy. If I don’t send him a telegraph tomorrow letting him know we’re on the way, he kills the boy. So it really is in his best interest if you cooperate.”

She shivered and tried to hold still while he freed her hands and feet. Rubbing her wrists, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and massaged her ankles. He sank back in the chair and watched her.

“Would you like something to eat?”

She gave him her best look of disgust. “I don’t want anything from you. What kind of man would work for someone who would kidnap a child? And you, Estrella. How could you do this to Paul?”

His shoulders flinched, but his voice was bored as he spoke. “The kind of man who likes money.”

“You’re a bastard.” She lurched to her feet and paced the room. He didn’t respond, just watched her.

She went to twitch aside the curtain next to Estrella and the smaller woman slammed her back into the wall. Lilly struggled against her and Estrella leaned in to whisper.

“Stupid bitch, I’m going to help you escape.” Lilly went still against her and Estrella growled at her. “Keep fighting me. He can’t know.”

Hooking her foot behind Estrella’s leg, Lilly toppled them both to the ground. With a scream, she grabbed a handful of Estrella’s long black hair and shook it back and forth, hoping it looked like she was really fighting the woman.

Swearing, the man pulled them apart and held them both by the napes of their necks. “If you two don’t calm down, I’m going to spank you both until you can’t stand.”

He tossed a protesting Lilly on the bed and grabbed Estrella’s shoulders. Lilly couldn’t hear what he whispered against Estrella’s ear, but it made her eyes widen and a blush fill her cheeks.

With a huff, Estrella pushed away from the man. “In your dreams, Cìarán.”

Rubbing her sore arm, Lilly glared at him through narrowed eyes. “Where do I know you from?”

The slightest smile turned the corners of his mouth. “You know me rather well.”

She launched herself from the bed and resumed her pacing while staying away from the door and window. “Do I know you from Hartford, or Caldwell?”

He shook his head, a lock of sandy blond hair momentarily obscuring one eye. “Neither.”

“But I’ve met you before?”

“Yes.”

She stalked over to him, hands twitching to wring his neck. “Damnit, tell me who you are!”

Estrella opened the door to the washroom. “He was the man you talked to at the park in Hartford. Don’t you notice anything?”

Rolling his eyes, Cìarán stood and began to undress. She turned her back before anything more than a button slipped open. With a sniff, she walked past Estrella who shook her head with a mean grin. “Oh no, you don’t get to go to the bathroom alone. How do we know you won’t climb out the window?”

Clenching her hands into fists, she marched into the washroom. Behind her, she heard Cìarán laugh quietly as Estrella slammed the door.

Lilly jerked her forward and hissed, “What the hell is going on?”

“We don’t have much time. Shut up and listen,” Estrella hissed back. “Lee Krisp blackmailed me into coming here to help Cìarán kidnap you. What Cìarán doesn’t know is that Lee wants me to kill you after you sign over your land.”

“What? Why would he think you would kill me?” The question came out on a whisper of breath.

Estrella hesitated. “Not important. Right now you need to cooperate and give me a chance to rescue you and Owen.”

Leaning back, Estrella shouted, “Hurry up already. I’ve never met a woman who was so shy about making water.”

Now that Estrella mentioned it, she really did have to go. Maneuvering around to the toilet, she lifted her skirts while Estrella turned her back. “What did you tell Paul?”

“That you were safe and on your way back to Caldwell. I didn’t have a chance to write much. I only had a few moments in the house to drug the tea and then to make sure it worked.” Estrella glowered at her disheveled reflection in the mirror. “I still think you’re a stupid bitch, but I won’t spend the rest of my living with the guilt of yours and Owen’s death.”

Pulling the chain, Lilly straightened her skirts and splashed some water on her face.

Nodding at each other, Estrella opened the door and shoved her out. “Watch her while I get ready for bed, Cìarán.”

Estrella’s jaw dropped and Lilly had a brief glimpse of a very naked Cìarán before she slammed her eyes shut.

“Put some clothes on!” Lilly shouted while Estrella said something long and angry in Spanish.

Cìarán’s deep chuckle filled the room. “I’ve pulled the covers up. Sorry, you surprised me.”

With a huff, Estrella slammed the door and Lilly peeked between her fingers. True to his word, Cìarán was now safely beneath the covers. He pretty much ignored her, keeping his gaze on the bathroom door. It was reassuring to know his display wasn’t done in an effort to seduce her.

“Just remember, if you try to escape tonight, Owen is dead.” He turned down the oil lamp until the only light came through the sheer curtains at the windows.

He made a great show of getting comfortable in bed, sighing as he stretched out and pulling the covers around himself. She punched the pillow and lay on the floor, fully clothed. With tears leaking down her cheeks, she stared at patterns the light from the window made on the ceiling. Now that she had time to think, she was scared out of her wits. She missed Paul so much, she ached. What would happen if he found her, somehow? Would that mean Owen’s death?

A sob escaped her and she buried her face in her pillow. He shifted on the bed and threw a blanket down to her. “Sleep, Lilly. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

The bathroom door opened and Estrella growled. After a brief tussle, Cìarán was pushed onto the floor on the other side of the bed tangled up in a sheet. He glared up at Estrella, who whispered something low and fierce at him. With an insolent grin, he stretched out again, obviously preening for the dusky beauty.

Closing her eyes, Lilly buried her face in the pillow and cried. After the tears finally ran out, she pulled the covers over her shoulders and tried to get comfortable on the thin rug. The last thoughts in her mind were of Paul, and how much she wished he were there.

Chapter Twenty One

Rough Ride

From her bunk in the sleeping area, Lilly watched Cìarán and Estrella in the main compartment of the train car. Feeling slightly woozy, she rocked with the motions of the train and strained to hear what was being said. In an effort to win Cìarán over to their side, Estrella and Lilly had shared a bottle of bourbon with him. Pleading exhaustion, Lilly had gone to bed and left the other woman alone with Cìarán.

The interior of the car was plush with blue silk walls and dark blue velvet-covered couches. Estrella reclined on one of the couches, her long, black hair pinned atop her head in a series of swirls. They had dressed her carefully for tonight in a pale grey gown that complimented the silver oil lanterns that hung between the windows.

Setting his drink down next to Estrella’s half-empty glass of bourbon, Cìarán crossed the small room and sat on the couch next to her. She turned her body and pretended to look at the shadowy countryside, her dark eyes watching him in the reflection of the window. Lilly held her breath in an effort to hear what was being said.

“What are you thinking about?” He toyed with a strand of Estrella’s dark, silken hair.

“How much I don’t like you,” she answered in a bored voice. Lilly noticed how Estrella leaned into his touch despite the look of indifference on her face.

“I knew you were thinking of me. I could feel it on the other side of the room.”

She snorted and pulled her hair out of his unresisting hand. “Cìarán, why do you keep bothering me?” Her small pink tongue darted out and licked her lips.

“Your passion in the gardens at the Sutherland Mansion caught me by surprise. It has been a long time since I’ve found a woman who responds with such...strength.”

Passion in the gardens? What was he talking about?
Lilly resisted the urge to cover her face with her hands.
No, no way could they have seen us. He must be talking about something else.

A blush stained Estrella’s cheeks, but she lifted her little nose into the air. “Doesn’t it bother you at all that I don’t like you?”

“Estrella, you don’t have to lie to me.”

He sounded so deep and sincere, Lilly actually believed him.

They rode in silence for a little while longer. He poured a second glass of bourbon and handed it to Estrella. “Drink with me.”

“I’d rather not,” she said and pushed it away.

“Just one drink and I’ll leave you alone.” His voice was persuasive, a masculine purr.

“Do you promise you will behave as a gentleman?”

Licking his lips, he sat next to her on the couch. “Maybe.”

***

Paul stared at the ceiling of his bunk in the sleeping car. In the two days since Lilly had been abducted he had slept less than eight hours. His eyes burned in his head, but every time he closed them he saw her face. Sleeping Bear slumbered in the bunk across from him and Catherine had her own sleeping quarters.

A note had been left in the parlor on the tea tray. The letter was in feminine writing and it let them know that Lilly was headed to Caldwell. Her captor promised she was safe and that she would be returned unharmed. Paul had no idea why her kidnapper would leave the note, but it all fit together. Somehow, Lee Krisp was behind her disappearance. He had to get back to Caldwell and beat Krisp until he gave him Owen and Lilly.

Guilt mixed with his sorrow and left him hollow. If only he had cherished the gift that was her love. Instead he had fought against it and tried to reject it at every turn. Cursing his stupidity, he realized that he had been lying to himself for a long time. There was no way he could imagine his life without Lilly.

Fists clenched at his side, Paul tried to turn his mind toward happy thoughts. When he pictured Lilly’s face, his tired brain conjured images of her in horrible situations. The less sleep he got, the more real the nightmares became. If he didn’t get her back, he would lose his mind.

***

Watching through a slit in her eyelids, Lilly clutched her hands together beneath the blankets. The tension between Estrella and Cìarán filled the train car and she waited to see what would happen next. It might have been a result of all the bourbon she’d consumed, but she found herself more interested in the romance between the two than her plans with Estrella.

Estrella leaned into his touch, her mouth hovering over his. “I don’t want to kiss you.”

He laughed and rubbed his cheek against hers. Lilly’s view of Estrella’s face was blocked, but she could see Cìarán’s eyes close and his features grow soft.

Leaning back against the edge of the couch, he placed his glass on the table. “I never thought you would be able to resist me this long.”

She rolled her eyes and played with the low-cut edge of her dress, drawing his attention to the way her full, bronze breasts pushed against the fabric. Cìarán’s hands stroked against his legs but he made no move toward her.